One-Hit KO
by RunsWithScizors
Summary: It's funny how the most ordinary children end up extraordinary in the end. Armed with nothing but a bite-happy starter, Ethan begins his journey to get an Egg for Professor Elm, but ends up running into the evil Team Rocket. It's a good thing he has his friends...right? (Retelling of HeartGold version)
1. Ethan and Elm

**Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, people and Pokémon of all ages! Today, I'd like to introduce everybody, old and new readers alike, to the third in a series of stories by two siblings who can't take it seriously no matter how hard they try. You don't have to read "Not Always Black and White" or "Shades of Gray" to enjoy this one, but I wouldn't mind if you did.**

**WARNING: ****Like the last two, it starts out rolling from one bad joke to another, but it slowly gets better. I promise.**

Looking back, Ethan figured he should have known that his life was going to be different than the lives of most other eleven-year-old boys.

For one thing, he was living with his mother in New Bark Town, the smallest town in all of Johto. His dad was still around, but he'd taken a business trip that required him to go to Hoenn, leaving the two alone. For another, the professor next door had called him to ask him to run an errand, and running errands usually meant something along the lines of "big adventure."

So, really, he should have been clued in right from the start. But, as it was, he just rolled out of bed, dressed in the first clothes his hands touched, and went downstairs to collect his Pokegear from his mother before starting off on this mission.

"You do remember how to use your phone, right?" his mother asked, slightly worried, and Ethan rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I do. Come on, Mom, I'll be gone about a day, tops."

His mother didn't seem to believe him, but she didn't question. "Oh, all right. And perhaps Lyra will want to come along. After all, you two have been playing in mud puddles together since you were barely toilet trained -"

"Gee, Mom, look at the time. I can't keep Professor Elm waiting much longer."

And he was out the door before his mother could say another word. Of course, no sooner had he closed the door behind him than he was attacked by a Marill, and a very familiar one at that. He managed to grab on to it before it could get lost, and soon enough he heard another familiar voice calling for it.

"I have him, Lyra," Ethan called, and soon enough his friend appeared out of nowhere. Lyra was very fond of playing dress-up, living every day like it was Halloween, without the tricks or treats. Ethan wasn't really big on clothes, but he was still curious as to what she'd be up to every day. Today, she'd dressed up like a genderbent preteen Mario, and Ethan momentarily worried she'd make him trade his own comfy clothes to become a male Princess Peach.

The worry was unnecessary. She simply took her Marill from her friend's arms, thanked him, and asked him where he was heading.

"My mom said Professor Elm wanted to see me," he admitted. "Something about a mission."

Lyra bounced in excitement, stopping only when Marill voiced his protests. "Oh, my gosh! Ethan, that's great news! Do you think he'll let you have a Pokémon?"

Ethan shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Well, if he does, maybe we can have a battle. I know Marill's getting bored."

Marill didn't seem bored at all. In fact, he was entertaining himself by using Bubble and attempting to catch the damage-dealing bubbles before they hurt anything. But Ethan didn't question it.

"So, I guess I'll see you later," he said, and Lyra waved enthusiastically as he left, before bouncing down the road to her own house. Ethan didn't mind that she wasn't coming along. After all, he was a big boy. He could take care of himself.

But something else was by the lab, too, something of such a bright red that Ethan assumed it was a fire. But it turned out to be just a boy with ridiculously bright red hair, staring intently through the window of Professor Elm's lab. Ethan was sure he'd never seen this boy before.

"So this is the famous Elm Research Lab," the red-haired boy was saying as Ethan approached.

"Did Professor Elm want to see you, too?" Ethan asked, startling the boy out of his daydream.

"Don't be stupid," the boy huffed, pushing Ethan away. "Don't talk to me."

Ethan was momentarily concerned, but then he decided that it was not his problem, and he headed back to the lab's door.

* * *

Professor Elm sat waiting for him, reading a book that looked far too complex and boring for Ethan's taste, but he waved the boy forward as he finished up his paragraph. Once his eyes had passed the final word, he marked his place and stood up, giving Ethan an equally boring lecture. The boy tried to pay attention anyway.

"Now, once a year we professors give out Pokémon to suitable children," Elm began, but Ethan interrupted.

_"Suitable_ children? So what do you want with me?"

"I'm getting there," said the professor, obviously anticipating Ethan's question. "Usually, we send them off on some Pokedex errand, but I chose you for something different. You see, I've gotten a series of e-mails recently from an acquaintance of mine called Mr. Pokémon, and I have too much research waiting for me, so I can't go myself. I have a son at home and a niece coming in from Pewter City this afternoon, but as he's too young and she's coming specifically to help with that research..."

"You want me to go see what your friend is rambling about," Ethan finished, and Professor Elm nodded.

"You will, of course, get a Pokémon for the mission," he said. He gestured toward a table where three Pokeballs sat, undisturbed. "You may release the Pokémon inside to help your decision, and I will reply to Mr. Pokémon and inform him that you're on your way."

Choosing a Pokémon was easier said than done, of course. The Cyndaquil threw out its back flames at Ethan, the Totodile latched its sharp little toothies into his sleeve, and the Chikorita tackled him down to the ground before hiding behind the professor. Whenever Ethan tried to get closer to them, they all either attacked or, in the Chikorita's case, ran away. Professor Elm found this hilarious, but he didn't want the boy to get hurt, so he decided to take a rather unusual course of action.

The professor called all three Pokémon back into their balls, before calling Ethan over. "I'm afraid they were our only options," he said sadly. "Unless, of course, you're willing to..._settle._"

The phone suddenly went off, ringing twice before the answering machine took it for him. A cheery female voice met with the professor and his Chosen One: "Good morning, Uncle!"

"Your niece?" Ethan asked, and Elm looked mildly ashamed. "Aren't you going to pick it up and talk to her?"

"No. She...disapproves of this process, even though all the Pokémon involved have been treated with just as much kindness as the ones out there. It would probably be best if I pretended I was nose-deep in research and didn't let her know."

The girl's voice continued, oblivious to her uncle's shame. "I know you're probably busy with your research, but I just want to tell you that my flight got cancelled, so Daddy's lending me his Abra to teleport over there. I'll be over in about two or three hours...and if you're selling some kid one of _those_ Pokémon again, I'm calling the cops this time!"

Elm suddenly grabbed on to the phone, clicking it on before his niece had hung up. "Oh, it's good you called...no, I'm not selling anything to children...yes, yes, you're fine, just be careful. I'll see you in a few hours."

And he clicked off the phone, turned back to Ethan, and led him over to a door that the boy hadn't seen before.

"You'll forgive me for saying this, of course," he said, unlocking the door with a key kept in his lab coat pocket, "but there are a few...unusual options for a starter, working through a rehabilitation process, of sorts. They aren't bad, they've just had different upbringings than most others of their species. These young ones aren't to be released until they learn their purpose, or a trainer-to-be can tame them. Three are nearly ready at the moment, two Totodile and a Chikorita."

"So you're handing over a Pokémon that is even more dangerous than it's supposed to be?" Ethan could see why the girl disapproved of this, but he couldn't bring himself to object. As long as he got a Pokémon, and didn't have to pay for it, it didn't really matter to him where it came from. "Which one am I getting?"

Elm thought it over, then came to a conclusion. "Which Pokémon would you have started with, if it was one out there?"

"Chikorita," Ethan said immediately, and followed the professor to a table where the Pokeballs were not blocked off with a gate in the chance of the creatures inside rising up against humanity. Not that they expected them to, Elm assured him, but it never hurt to be careful.

"Does gender matter?"

"Not really."

"Then I won't try to pressure you into a Totodile. This one's female, and she knows not to abandon people in the middle of nowhere and steal their food."

Ethan suddenly felt very sorry for whoever ended up with the male, and prayed that the professor would fix him in time for him to become a faithful companion to his trainer. And then he had a second thought. "And what's wrong with her, dare I ask?"

Professor Elm paused, his hand on a ball. "Well, like I said, she had a different upbringing than most Chikorita. She got separated from her herd, I suppose, and then I found her in the waters of Hoenn."

"What was she doing in Hoenn?" Ethan asked, and then he frowned. "Wait...what was a Grass-type doing in water?"

Elm answered both questions with one statement: "She was being raised by a Sharpedo clan." And he opened the ball, releasing the Chikorita, who stared at the strange human coming to get her from rehab, no fear in her adorable red eyes. "She really is friendly," the professor offered, as Ethan reached down to show the Chikorita that she didn't have to be afraid.

And then the Chikorita chomped down on his hand, in a way that Ethan was sure would make her foster family proud.

* * *

Well, when it came down to it, the Chikorita really was a good girl, just a little bite-happy. She kept apologizing to Ethan as Professor Elm searched his lab for a proper bandage.

"It's just her way of saying hello," said the professor, finding what he was searching for at last. "That is, if you still have all five fingers when she pulls away. I've never seen her take one off before, but you can't be too careful. I've been bitten more times than I care to remember, and we'll both be fine." And he handed Ethan a Band-Aid, covering the slight wound the Chikorita's teeth had made in his flesh.

"Don't worry about it," Ethan said, petting the Chikorita on the leaf. "I know you get excited. Just try to keep your teeth to yourself, ok?"

She leaned up against him, trying to keep her mouth shut. Ethan looked at Elm, who gave him an 'I told you so' smile and the rest of the Band-Aids. "Would you like to give her a name before you set out for Mr. Pokémon's house?"

Ethan looked at the Chikorita. The Chikorita looked at Ethan. And, finally, he smiled. "I think she looks like an Avery."


	2. Mr Pokemon

**In which a Chikorita exceeds expectations.**

The professor also suggested that he and Ethan trade phone numbers, just in case Ethan had a problem on his journey. The boy didn't see the harm in it, and when he briefly returned to show Avery off to his mother, she actually thought it was a good idea.

"It's nice to know the professor's keeping the kids he chooses for the Pokedex safe," she said with a smile, offering Avery a slice of apple, which the Chikorita chomped right through.

"Yeah," Ethan said, hoping his mom didn't catch the shifty eyes. "Safety first with that man. Hey, has Lyra stopped by?"

"No, she hasn't," Ethan's mother admitted. "Why, do you want to show her your Chikorita?" When Ethan didn't reply, his mother laughed. "Oh, don't be so scared. I'm sure Lyra will love Avery to pieces."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Ethan admitted. "She might want to trade. I like Avery and want to keep her for myself."

"So just refuse her trading offer," his mother said simply. "Not everything's as bad as you make it out to be. She'll understand."

So Ethan went out to show Avery to Lyra, and it went just as his mother had anticipated. Lyra hadn't gone out to catch any more Pokémon yet, but that didn't mean she was going to volunteer to trade Marill. She looked offended by the very suggestion.

"Why would I want your Chikorita when I have a great Pokémon of my own right here?" she asked, gently patting Marill on the head. "Besides, she's _yours. _I might want to borrow her sometime, but you have every right to decide when."

Ethan decided he would keep that in mind, just in case.

* * *

With Avery by his side, Ethan set off on his way to Cherrygrove City. It was a nice little path, filled with helpful people and not-so-helpful Pokémon, so they decided that they might as well go on and get some training in. Of course, he'd forgotten that his Chikorita's primary attack was Bite, which was illegal in most controlled battle situations even if it was possible to stop the Pokémon before it tore chunks of flesh from its opponent. Avery's teeth were small, built for eating plants, but they were sharp, and many Rattatta and Sentret ran away before she could finish the battle.

Ethan sighed and knelt down to speak with her. "Look, Avery. I know you like to bite, but a Chikorita using Bite is illegal in most battle situations. Why don't you try Tackle instead?"

Avery frowned, but did as her trainer commanded. It wasn't her style, she admitted, but it was still more fun than being thrown off a battlefield for ripping fur out of a Sentret's body. Besides, it made Ethan happy. The two continued this way until they found their way to Cherrygrove City. And, with her Tackle attack, she actually got quite a bit of experience. But, eventually, she grew tired of fighting. Ethan noticed and decided to carry her to the next town, hopefully keeping all other potential opponents out of the way.

Fortunately, they were right outside Cherrygrove City at the time, and Ethan started walking up to a tall building that looked like it could be a Pokémon Center. Unfortunately...

"Hey, kid!"

Ethan jumped about a foot at the sound of the man's voice. Avery's leaf drooped in an attempt to shield her face.

The old man didn't notice any of that. "You look new here. Do you need help?"

Ethan could only stare.

"Come on, then," said the old man. "I'm a tour guide, I know what to do."

And he ran off. Avery jumped down to the ground and looked up at Ethan, chomping on the air as she did so, clearly asking for permission to bite the crazy old man. Ethan shook his head, and she looked very disappointed.

They followed behind the man, watching as he pointed out the Pokémon Center(the very building that they were heading for in the first place) and the mart, and then came the real let-down.

"Up on this route," the man declared, "is Mr. Pokémon's house. You might find talking to him useful."

"You mean you're not Mr. Pokémon?" Ethan wailed, and the old man shook his head.

"What in the world gave you that idea? No, I'm just a proud old tour guide. Now, see here? That's the sea, you see..."

Ethan looked down at Avery, who seemed to be very bored with everything. "I'm sorry, Avery. You still can't bite him."

"Chiii..." Avery cried, and fell over onto the ground and flailed her short, stubby limbs in a tantrum.

* * *

Once the forced tour was over, Ethan and Avery went to the Pokémon Center to heal. When the Chikorita was feeling better, she followed her trainer down the route, prepared to face anything and let her frustrations out in battle, the way Sharpedo-mama had taught her.

Ethan studied his new map application very carefully. The old man had said that Mr. Pokémon's house was up this way, so they started on their way to the final step of their journey. It certainly wouldn't be difficult.

"All right, Avery," Ethan said, his Chikorita snapping to attention. "Why don't we go and get more experience? We want to show off to the professor, right?"

Avery nodded happily. "Chiko!"

"Well, then, let's go!"

It didn't take them too long before they found a house, and Ethan, satisfied with himself, knocked on the door. Then they waited, ready to show off.

It was a man who answered, and he smiled brightly upon seeing the visitors. "Are you a traveler, perhaps? Did you come to take a look at my lovely Apricorn tree?"

Ethan frowned. "No," he said, as if that should have been clear. "I'm looking for Mr. Pokémon. You're not him, are you?"

The man shook his head. "Mr. Pokémon is a bit further up the route," he said happily. "Still, a traveler like you must be in need of an Apricorn Box. Here, I have a whole collection, I'll give you one!"

"I really don't think -" Ethan started, but the man had gone back into his house and returned, box in hand. Ethan was forced to accept the man's generosity, and glanced down at Avery. Her eyes were narrowed, her mouth was twitching, and the leaf lay flat against her head like an angry Persian's ears. She looked like it was almost physically hurting her to watch this nonsense. Knowing exactly what she was waiting for, Ethan sighed. "All right, make it quick."

And that was how Weird Apricorn Man got his trousers mauled by a Chikorita. But at least she didn't break skin this time.

* * *

"I just want to find Mr. Pokémon!" Ethan wailed, kicking a rock as hard as he could. It sailed across the path and into the grass, hitting a Metapod and bouncing off its hard body. Ethan didn't seem to notice as he continued to rant to Avery. "But it seems that the guy's just disappeared off the face of the planet! Is this why Elm didn't want to do it himself, or send his niece out to do it?"

A boy a bit younger than him seemed to show up from nowhere, and he, too, had a Pokémon outside of its ball. "Did you say Pokémon?" he asked happily, cuddling the Rattatta in his arms. "I can battle you, if you want. Your Chikorita looks tough, but can it stand up to my top-percentage Rattata?"

Ethan looked over at the Rattatta. Avery probably could take it down, easily...but no, he wasn't going to accept this challenge. Not yet, anyway. "Find someone else," he ordered. "I'm on a mission."

"Later, then?"

"Sure."

"All right! Have fun!"

Ethan waved at the boy as he and Avery moved along, knowing that if anyone deserved an Avery attack, it would be that guy.

* * *

"Mr. Pokémon?" Ethan called, banging on the door to another house. If this wasn't the one, he decided, he would go back to New Bark Town and tell Professor Elm that this mission was pointless and that Mr. Pokémon could mail him the dumb thing. "Is this the right address? You in there? Please come and let me in. Or at least come outside."

His prayers were answered when he heard a man's voice calling him to enter. He found not one but two men, sitting at a table, having a conversation. One of them looked up at Ethan's entrance, the other didn't. But the man who had looked pleased to see him.

"You must be the boy that Professor Elm sent," he stated, and Ethan nodded.

"Are you Mr. Pokémon? I'm here to pick up whatever it was you wanted to show the professor."

Mr. Pokémon wasn't paying attention. "And who's this little beauty?" he asked, reaching out and petting Avery's head. She then gnawed on his fingers, but it didn't seem to hurt him too much.

Ethan was annoyed. "Mr. Pokémon, please. I'm here to get something. I'm tired and hungry and want to make it home by nightfall, so can you hurry up?"

That got Mr. Pokémon's attention. Pulling his hand from Avery's mouth, he turned to the other man. "Could you take care of the boy, Professor?" he asked. "I have to get the Important Object."

"You call everything 'the Important Object,' why is this one different?" But the man changed dramatically when he turned to face Ethan. The boy immediately recognized who this man was - it was the great Professor Oak! "So, you're the one Professor Elm sent out on a Pokedex quest this year, am I right?"

"Uh, no. He just gave me Avery here and sent me out to get something. I get to keep her, he gets to keep the 'Important Object.'" Ethan made quotation marks with his fingers as he said it, and Oak nodded in understanding.

"I thought it was a bit early to choose the Pokedex carriers in Johto," he admitted. "But I gave Professor Elm's niece a Pokedex of her own for her trip, I suppose I could give you one, too."

Ethan watched in amazement as Professor Oak reached into the pocket of his lab coat and removed a brand-new Pokedex. Some small, insignificant part of his brain was asking if the professors always had spares or if Oak was just crazy-prepared, but the rest of his brain didn't seem to care. As he stared at the shiny device in Oak's hands, Ethan couldn't resist. He was reaching for it when Mr. Pokémon came in, carrying...

An egg.

Ethan proceeded to throw a temper tantrum at the sight of a simple egg, and it took Oak ten whole minutes to get him to calm down.

After giving a brief apology and thanking both old men for their time and their gifts, Ethan and Avery started to head back to New Bark Town. But as soon as they'd left the house, Ethan's phone started ringing.

Thinking it was his mother, Ethan turned it on, prepared to tell her he was coming home now and not to worry. And then it surprised him when he heard Elm's voice on the other end.

"Ethan! Hurry back to the lab, it's important! No time to waste, just get here immediately!"

"Professor?" Ethan asked, and he could see the concern in Avery's eyes as she stared up at the phone. "Professor, what are you talking about?"

"Someone's stolen a Pokémon from the lab!"


	3. Back at the Lab

**Now is the point where we make the editor feel old and nostalgic. She was a little kid when Crystal came out, and I've heard stories about how Crystal was the game where she caught her first shiny(it was a Sentret, not the red Gyarados) and the first game she played to the Elite Four, where she lost to Lance a total of 6 times before rage-quitting. Since I know that there are technically _two _female player characters for Johto, I did this for her.**

**But we won't be seeing any shinies. Not until Gyarados, anyway.**

Ethan and Avery hurried back to Cherrygrove City, hopping over ledges to get there faster and stealing a Green Apricorn from Weird Apricorn Man's tree in the process. Hey, the guy gave them the box, so they might as well use it.

Almost outside of Cherrygrove, however, they saw a boy with long red hair, hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket and walking quickly. He seemed startled to see Ethan, and even more so when Ethan grabbed his arm to slow him down.

"What do you want?" the boy hissed, and Ethan quickly let go.

"I just thought you might have some idea as to what happened in Professor Elm's lab," Ethan explained. "I saw you looking through the window. Maybe you noticed something."

The boy grew paler, and pulled out a red and white ball from his pocket. "I don't know what you're talking about," he growled. "I left that window when you left the lab."

Ethan wasn't entirely sure on that point, but the boy quickly sent out a Cyndaquil and told it to attack. Ethan had no choice but to send in his Chikorita, who responded to the challenge by attempting to look threatening and failing miserably.

"You chose that pathetic thing?" The boy was clearly unimpressed with Avery, not knowing what Ethan knew about her past before the lab. "You won't get anywhere with a weak Grass-type."

Avery bared her tiny teeth. **"I'll show you weak, you walking meat brick."**

The Cyndaquil threw out his back flames. **"Shut up and battle me," **he ordered, and almost as if they'd heard him, the trainers immediately began the battle.

"Open it with Tackle, Avery!" Ethan ordered, and with a roll of her eyes, Avery pounced, knocking the Cyndaquil to the ground.

The red-haired boy glared at his Pokémon. "Don't just sit there, stupid! Tackle it back!"

This Tackle-off continued until Avery won, and with a proud toss of her head(it reminded Ethan of how Lyra always flipped her hair) she trotted back to her trainer and sat by his feet. The redhead recalled his Cyndaquil and started off, never noticing that he dropped something in his rush.

Ethan picked it up. It was a trainer card. Professor Elm had given him one to use as permission to train Avery, so the boy couldn't have had Cyndaquil illegally. Could he?

He had a brief second to look at the name, but then the boy returned for the card.

"And this is mine," he huffed, yanking it out of Ethan's hands, and stormed away.

Avery watched him go, a dark hunger in her eyes.

* * *

When Ethan finally made it back to the lab, he was not expecting to see what he saw. There were police cars surrounding the lab, almost as if the thief had been cornered by the professor before he or she could make an escape. When Ethan managed to sneak through the patrolling officers, he found another police officer interrogating the professor, three more searching for clues, and a girl Ethan had never seen before was standing with her nose in the corner as if she'd been given a time-out.

Without thinking, Ethan blurted, "Wow, Professor. Your niece wasn't joking. She _did_ call the cops on you."

The girl in the corner turned her head from her punishment, and glared at Elm. "Uncle..." she hissed, her tone not unlike what one would expect to hear from a babysitter about to snap.

"Corner..." Elm warned in the same tone of voice, and the girl rolled her eyes but returned to her former position.

The cop that had been interrogating Elm turned on Ethan. "So you must be the culprit!" he declared. "Rule number one of crime-solving: The suspect always returns to the scene of the crime!"

Elm looked shocked. "Don't say that!" he gasped. "Don't even think it! Ethan is no more guilty than Kris over there." He gestured toward his niece, who was patiently waiting for her punishment to end.

"Yes, well, considering Kris's mouth, I wouldn't be surprised if she was his accomplice."

Kris giggled happily, and Elm sent another dirty look her way. "She may be a bit...difficult to handle, but I assure you, neither she nor Ethan had anything to do with it."

"It's true, Officer!" a new voice called, and Lyra and her Marill bounced into the room. "Ethan had nothing to do with it! I saw a guy leave the lab, and he had red hair!"

Ethan thought back. "I battled a guy with red hair," he said simply. "It was on my way out of Cherrygrove City. I thought that the professor gave him his Cyndaquil. His trainer card looked just as official as mine and Lyra's."

"You saw his trainer card?" the policeman asked, and Ethan nodded. "What was his name?"

"I'm not really sure," Ethan admitted. "I think it started with S, though."

"Stephen?"

"No. It wasn't anything normal, that's for sure."

"Saliva?" Kris offered, still not turning around.

The word triggered something in Ethan's memory. "Silver! That's it, he was Silver! Like the metal!"

"Not as fun," Kris sighed, but the cops were on already their way out, in an attempt to catch Silver before he could get to Cherrygrove. Or, Avery thought to herself, it could have just been to get some donuts.

* * *

Hearing the door close behind them, Kris stepped out from her corner and moved over to Elm. She looked like she was about to give him a lecture, but was interrupted when the door opened again.

"Why are there cop cars outside the lab _now_, Dad?" the professor's son called, entering the building. "Did Kris get arrested?"

The girl smirked. "No, but I just got here. There's still plenty of time."

"So why are you in the time-out corner?"

Ethan and Lyra were curious, too. Elm answered for her: "She decided she was going to be a smart-aleck to a cop."

"Never mind _my _adventures," Kris snapped. "It's the boy with the Chikorita you should be concerned for. Maybe next time your dad will think before catching those 'alternative' starters."

The professor wasn't amused. "Kris, I have to talk to Ethan at the moment. Could you hold off on the scolding for a few more minutes?"

She shrugged, unrepentant. "Wait until Grandma finds out you gave a kid a rehab Pokémon again."

Elm looked very uncomfortable with the idea of his mother finding out about his unusual way of working, but he tried to ignore it by speaking to Ethan. "Did you find Mr. Pokémon?"

"Yeah, no thanks to you." He removed his bag and dug through it, handing the man the egg. "Take it. It's yours."

Elm took one look at it, sighed, and passed it on to another assistant. "I should have known," he said. "But how would you like to do something more important with your life? The Gym Leaders are always waiting for new challengers, after all, and you and Avery can make some new friends."

"What about food?"

"I can cook," Lyra offered. "I can come along. Marill can protect me."

Ethan shrugged. "All right. I can do adventure."

"Good. And perhaps Kris can go along with you, too," he added as an afterthought. "She'd certainly get bored in the lab all day. And Oak gave her a Pokedex, I hear, so she can put that to use and do some field research for me."

"You just want to get out of trouble, don't you?" Ethan asked.

Kris thought it over. "I guess I could," she admitted. "If Ethan and what's-her-name let me."

"Then it's settled," Elm declared, moving to the back of the lab. He came back with a single Pokedex, which he handed to Lyra. "You were the chosen trainer this year, anyway. But, seeing as you have Marill and Ethan has Avery, why doesn't Kris choose from the Pokémon the thief didn't take?"

The professor's son wasn't amused. "You're just bribing her not to tattle."

"That's only _part _of the reason," Elm told him. "The bigger part is that she has a Pokedex, so why not use it?"

He released the two remaining Pokémon, and Ethan tried not to look. He should have known that Cyndaquil would be missing.

Kris reached down and stroked the Chikorita's leaf, but her eyes were on the Totodile. "I'll take him," she announced, pointing at the blue creature.

"It bites," Ethan warned, and Kris gave him a pointed look.

"So do half the Pokémon in the rehab center," she stated, and, seeing as how no one could object to that, she took the Totodile from her uncle and thanked him enthusiastically. "I think I'll call him Chomper. It fits, right?"

**"Chomper, Chomper!"** the Totodile sang from his position in her arms. **"Master named me Chomper!"**

And, as soon as their goodbyes were said, the trio started out on their journey.

* * *

"Do any of you know how to catch Pokémon?"

Three kids groaned in unison as the young man approached, looking eager to help. It wasn't his fault, really, but there was still the basic fact that yes, they did.

Lyra found a way out of it quickly, however. "I'm actually here to teach them," she stated simply, as if that had been her plan all along. Ethan had to admit, it was a good idea. After all, she'd had Marill for longer than he and Kris had had their Pokémon. She may have even caught him herself. "You can go find somebody else to instruct, I guess..."

The man shook his head. "No, that's all right. I just saw new kids, and figured I'd give them a demonstration. Don't worry about it."

But the fact remained that they had to watch Lyra catch a Pokémon now, and it was going to be way more difficult than she'd first thought. Well, finding a Pokémon willing to let her try to catch it, that is.

But, eventually, she found a small Sentret chasing down a Pidgey, and the little creature rounded on them for invading its territory, a look in its eyes that Ethan recognized immediately. It was the look that Avery had whenever she was interested in something.

It seemed to scare Kris a little, and for good reason. "Lyra, maybe you should find another Sentret if you want one this much," she suggested. "This one looks...dangerous."

"It's not _that_ dangerous," Lyra sighed. "Trust me, my grandparents run a day care. They know how dangerous Pokémon act."

"And did they tell you?"

"Yes," Lyra stated, rolling her eyes. It should have been obvious that the day care couple would want their granddaughter to be safe. "Trust me. It's not lethal, it's just territorial. It'll probably be a bit like Avery."

Marill was just as fearless as his trainer, and asked the Sentret to battle. Sentret responded in a very Avery-like way, but listened when Marill demanded a fair fight. Eventually, though, the Sentret was captured in a ball, making Lyra not only the first of the group to have a Pokémon, but the first to catch a second as well.

"Yeah, well, you're still the last one with a Pokedex," Ethan said when she pointed it out, and made a face at her to prove his point.

Lyra rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she responded, scanning her new catch with her Pokedex. She proudly showed it off to her friends. "Oh, by the way: the Pokedex says he has no diseases, rabies or otherwise." She flashed a taunting smile at Kris, and then put the ball and Pokedex away. "His name is Skyrocket."

"Why Skyrocket?"

"Felt like it." Lyra waved Ethan forward. "All right, boy, you know the way to Cherrygrove City. You're in the lead now, Ethan!"


	4. On the Road Again

**In place of dangerous sea monsters, use Sentrets.**

Ethan and friends made it to Cherrygrove City in one piece, but Skyrocket had taken some damage when Lyra decided to train him. Though Marill and Avery both followed their trainers, Marill often in Lyra's arms, Kris had decided to keep Chomper in his ball unless he was needed, since he had an alarming tendency to chase after his own tail and fall behind.

"The weird old man was here," Ethan said, pointing at the place where his unwanted tour guide had ambushed him and Avery. The Chikorita behind him made a face, as if she recalled the incident too clearly. "And that's the Pokémon Center, right there."

"I know what a Pokémon Center looks like, Ethan," Lyra said, as if his brain was working particularly slowly that day. "I'm not an idiot."

But they headed into the building together, handed their Pokémon to the nurse, and sat down around a table. Ethan picked up his phone to call his mother, and Lyra poured all her concentration into a sketchbook. She wasn't incredible, but she was very good for a girl her age, and it was this talent that attracted Kris to look over her shoulder.

"What's that?" Kris asked, pointing at a sketch. A smiling Pokémon was the subject of her curiosity, a large creature with three heads, two of which served as hands. It looked pretty happy to be with a Mareep and a Dunsparce. Friends? Or were they prey?

Lyra smiled. "Don't you have these in Kanto?" she asked, and Kris shook her head sadly. "We don't see many here, either. It's called a Hydreigon. Grandma and Grandpa watched over one last summer. All the way from Unova, Grandpa said."

As the girls bonded over sketches and the Pokémon in them, and their Pokémon returned, Ethan and his mother had a very interesting chat about money and why he refused to let her save some for him.

"It's not that I don't trust you, Mom," he promised, "but you have a shopping addiction and I don't want you spending my money."

"I save some of my own money specifically so I can shop," his mother objected, not seeming to care that the way he said it implied that he didn't trust her after all. "Besides, I'd only use your money to buy things that you and your friends can use on your journey."

Ethan thought it over a bit more, and then shook his head. "No thanks. I can keep my own battle winnings."

After saying goodbye and feeling his Chikorita plop into his lap, Ethan decided it was time to get going.

"Well, come on," he said, as Lyra returned the book to her bag and called Skyrocket back to his ball. "The Gym Badge won't win itself."

* * *

"Is this Mr. Pokémon's house?" Kris asked several minutes later, pointing to a strange house that stood as if waiting for unsuspecting travelers to arrive.

Ethan and Avery both paled as they realized exactly what house she was inquiring about. "No!" Ethan shouted, a bit too loudly. "Don't go near that place! Don't even think about it! YOU WILL DIE!"

But it was too late. Weird Apricorn Man came rushing out of the house, enthusiastically offering the girls an Apricorn box each, paying no attention to when Lyra hid behind Ethan and Kris backed up several paces.

"I won't hurt you," he cheered, taking a step closer over Marill's protests. "Ask your friend here! I have no idea why he set an insane Chikorita on me..."

**"I'm not a Chikorita,"** Avery huffed, attempting to wave her leaf threateningly but just being more adorable than before. **"I'm a Carvanha!"**

Weird Apricorn Man, unable to understand her, held out the boxes. "So, what do you say?"

Kris glared at him. "What do I say?" she repeated, and struck a dramatic pose. "I say we release the Kraken!"

Silence fell like a ton of bricks, and then Ethan dared to speak. "Uh, Kris? We don't have a Kraken."

"Then tell Lyra to release Skyrocket!"

Lyra didn't even have to touch Skyrocket's ball. The moment he heard his name, the Sentret burst free on his own, and, ringed tail flicking, stood on all fours as he looked up at Weird Apricorn Man. And then, carefully, he pushed himself onto his tail.

What happened next was the strangest thing any of them had ever seen: A Sentret using what seemed to be Bullet Seed, spitting out apple seeds at Weird Apricorn Man with speed and precision that no one had ever seen. The man raced back into his house and slammed the door behind him, and Skyrocket managed to get a few seeds stuck in it. If Ethan looked closely, he could barely notice wonky letters that spelled out a particularly nasty swear word, but he blinked and it was gone.

All three of them stared down at the rodent, confused and more than a little terrified.

"I didn't know Sentret could use Bullet Seed," Kris stated, tightening her grip on her Totodile just a bit.

"They can't," Lyra whispered, eyes wide with terror. "Not in normal battle situations. But a Chikorita can't use Bite, either, and look at Avery."

**"She does have a point," **Chomper taunted from his trainer's arms. **"What kind of abominations are you guys, anyway?"**

Neither Pokémon chose to answer him.

* * *

Just a little past Weird Apricorn Man's house, the trio found a few trainers to practice battles with. Within a few moments of their arrival, Avery all but annihilated a Rattata that had been declared by his trainer to be "in the top percentage of all Rattata," and now the trainer in question was practically begging for Ethan's number, despite the boy's very irritated facial expression.

"I don't know," Ethan said, trying to back away and rejoin Kris and Lyra, who had already gone ahead and were waiting for him just past a jumping ledge. "This whole route is full of strange people. There's this one guy who seems obsessed with giving complete strangers Apricorn boxes, and Mr. Pokémon isn't exactly what I'd call right in the head."

"There's that," the boy said, nodding in sympathy. "But I just want somebody to listen to me when I talk about my Rattata." His face fell. "No one else does."

Ethan was spared from answering by Lyra's voice: "Ethan, come on! Kris and I want to make it to Violet City, and you being a Slowpoke isn't going to help us at all!"

"Coming!" He said a quick goodbye to the boy and ran away, leaving the youngster wondering what happened.

He looked down at the rodent in his arms and smiled slightly. "You'll never leave me, right?"

"Of course not," he said, pretending it was the Rattata that talked. "You're my best friend, Joey."

* * *

They could see the lights of Violet City just ahead, the darkness proving it was past their usual curfew. They could also feel that they were beyond sleepy at the moment, and that they would probably not make it.

They would have, had Ethan not decided that he wanted to explore Dark Cave. The problem wasn't that the cave itself was too hard to handle, as not one of them planned on leaving the area around the entrance, so they could get back out if they wanted to. The real problem with going into Dark Cave was that none of them had a flashlight, a Pokémon with Flash, or enough battery juice to power the screen lights on their Pokegear. Kris didn't even have a flashlight at all, since her Pokegear was a really old model her mother had owned and taken care of to the point that it was still usable.

"Don't worry, ladies and gentlemen," Ethan said, happily ignoring the furious females and the clueless Marill. It probably wasn't a good idea to do so, as even his own Chikorita seemed to be plotting against him, but perhaps it was simply too dark for him to see their faces. "We'll find our way out of here soon enough."

"Soon enough will never be soon enough," Lyra snapped, causing her Marill to flinch in fear.

"This was a bad idea, Ethan," Kris said, narrowing her eyes at the place she heard his voice coming from. "Let's just get out of here when we still can..."

"But I'm looking for a Pokémon!" Ethan protested. "Don't any of you know of the majestic Dunsparce? A really amazing teammate to have -"

"Dunsparce?" Lyra repeated, and then she groaned loudly. "Ethan, please tell me this isn't related to -"

"No, it's not, but that's still a good idea." He smiled, so widely that they all noticed even when they could just barely make out his outline. "Thanks for the suggestion, Lyra."

"Related to what?" Kris asked, her curiosity obvious once more, but Lyra merely made another, louder groaning sound.

"I'm not going to say," she sighed. "I have a feeling you'll find out soon enough."

Ethan pretended he wasn't aware of all of this. "So, will you help me catch a Dunsparce or not?"

He got his answer sixteen seconds later, when Avery jumped up and chomped down on his hood, attempting to drag him out of the cave. When it finally got through to her that she needed extra assistance, she whimpered like a wounded Growlithe until the others found them, each human grabbing one of Ethan's arms. Together, they managed to heave him out into the moonlit night, and then stubbornly fold open their sleeping bags and remain silent when Ethan brought up his Dunsparce quest again. Realizing that all any of the others, including Chomper and Skyrocket in their balls, wanted to do was sleep, Ethan finally admitted his own drowsiness and joined them in the grass, Avery snuggled up against him like the angel he knew she wasn't.

Dunsparce was a funny-looking thing, anyway.


	5. The Bellsprout Worshippers

**Kris is definitely not a cheerleader.**

The next morning, Kris and Lyra were woken rather rudely by Ethan's triumphant shout. Looking up blearily, they saw him waving a red and white ball above his head, clearly pleased with himself. Noticing they were awake, he held out the ball, letting the sun reflect off of it as his companions tried to turn on their brains.

"I caught a Pidgey!" he cried, and Kris rolled her eyes.

"Forgive me for not leaping for joy," she said, curling up in her sleeping bag again and burrowing to shield her face from the unforgiving sun. "It's too early for this."

But Lyra, at least, was enthusiastic.

"Oh, Ethan! That's awesome! Now Avery has a new friend, and maybe Marill and Chomper and Skyrocket can all play with them! Isn't this great, Kris?"

The bag moved a little, and then the other girl's muffled voice spoke up. "Wonderful. Sleeping."

"Don't mind her," Ethan said, flashing a taunting look at the lump in the pink sleeping bag. "She's just upset because you and I have two Pokémon each and she only has one."

Kris responded by resurfacing just long enough to throw a clump of grass at him.

But, eventually, Ethan and Lyra managed to get her up for real, and with that task out of the way, they finished their journey to Violet City in what was almost entirely peace.

* * *

It was as he was reaching for the handle on the Violet Gym's door that Ethan met yet another man with, shall we say, questionable sanity. It would honestly be an understatement.

Twirling and dancing, this strange man insisted that Ethan didn't know the first thing about Pokémon, and that he and the girls could learn everything they need to know at his school. Deciding they had nothing better to do, they followed him. At a reasonable distance, of course, to make it seem like they were going to the school of their own accord and were in no way interested in what this particular lunatic had to say.

"I don't see why we even bothered, really," Lyra said once they got there, as she and her friends looked around for something that would tell them things they didn't already know. "My grandparents run the Day Care, Kris's uncle is Professor Elm, Ethan's dad was a trainer when he was younger...clearly, we all know just as much about Pokémon by family connections alone as he's teaching in this school."

"But I don't have my dad's number right now," Ethan pointed out. "And there's a time difference between Johto and Hoenn, so I might be waking him up in the middle of the night of I call. So it's probably a good thing that we found this place."

"You won't need to call. Trust me, we've got this."

But Kris was searching the bookshelves, apparently looking for something in particular. The dance-man noticed. "What are you looking for?"

"Something about what Apricorns are supposed to do," was the reply. "I've got absolutely no idea why that one guy was so intent on giving us those boxes."

"Lectures on Apricorns are set for next week," the twirling teacher informed her. "You could always stay here. I'm looking for new students..."

"Sorry. I'm on a journey. My friends and I can learn as we go along, and we probably wouldn't fit in with a class full of eight-year-olds." Kris handed him the book she'd picked out, smiled politely, and left without another word to the man. She did, however, tell her friends that they can take as long as they wanted, and that she'd be waiting for them in front of Sprout Tower. They followed her out as quickly as possible.

* * *

"All right," Lyra said, glancing at the huge tower before them. "I've heard about this place. The Sprout Tower holds many trainers who can give experience for Avery and Pidgey to be at their best for the upcoming Gym battle, but I've also heard that these trainers worship a pillar. What do you think, Ethan?" she asked, turning around to look at her friend. "Go in, or face the Gym Leader unprepared?"

Ethan looked down at Avery. Avery looked up at Kris. Kris looked back at Ethan.

"Why not?" Ethan finally decided. "We can handle any weird pillar cult. Right, Avery?"

"Chiko!" Avery chirped, proudly tossing her head.

And Ethan bravely led the girls into the tower, where they were immediately lost in the sound of the ancient music, played through the entire tower. Marill and Avery even started to dance, swaying in adorable little movements that matched the big, creepy pillar that seemed to move on its own. According to legend, this tower was once a giant Bellsprout, rooted centuries ago and continuing to dance even though its body had long been petrified. Ethan figured that it was a machine keeping it going, though without destroying the tower, there was no way to tell.

"The stairs are this way," Kris suddenly said, pointing behind the enormous pillar, and, unhindered by keeping her Pokémon outside his ball, she had already started up the first set of stairs by the time Ethan and Lyra had pulled their partners away from the dance spot.

The second floor was where the battles started. The big pillar still swayed in the center of the room, and as far as the trio could tell, it continued to do so through the whole building. The one man in the far corner of the room caught sight of them, and he came over to explain the rules of the tower.

"The challenge," he said, "can only be attempted by one. If you reach and defeat the Elder, you win a prize. Should you give up, you will not. Which of you will take the challenge?"

"I will," Ethan declared. "I'll take the challenge. Just point me in the direction of the Elder."

"You can't go through that easily," the man pointed out, and he sent out a Bellsprout. "You must first defeat me and my colleagues in battle."

"All right," Ethan said, and he sent out Avery.

She took the thing down in three Tackles, and Ethan and the girls were allowed to move on.

* * *

After the first battle, Ethan decided to train Pidgey some more, instead of relying entirely on Avery. By the time he reached the final four opponents, and the Elder himself, the little bird had caught up to Avery on the power scale and could destroy the opponents' Bellsprout army with ease. Not that Avery was completely useless: the place was filled with Rattata, and she was given the task of getting them out of the trio's path without using her teeth.

"Just the Elder left," Ethan said, over Lyra's quiet complaints. "Then we can get out of here."

"Let's hope so," Lyra sighed, but the sound of a battle drew her back to reality. Looking over Ethan's shoulder, she saw, quite clearly, a head of flaming red hair that she recognized immediately.

Ethan recognized it too. "Hey, Silver!"

The other boy's head turned against his will, a reflex developed over the years. But he had already won the battle, the stolen Cyndaquil defeating the Elder's Bellsprout as easily as Pidgey had done. "And what do you want?"

"I want to know why you -"

But the Elder interrupted him. "There is a time and place, young man," he ordered. "For you, this is neither. This one must claim his prize."

And he handed Silver something small, the boy carelessly dumping it into his bag and removing an Escape Rope in the process. He paid no attention to the Elder's warning about caring only for strong Pokémon, but he didn't leave just yet, either. He instead looked over at Ethan's female companions, seemingly wondering if either of them posed a threat.

"I see you picked up some cheerleaders," he stated, locking eyes with Lyra for a bit longer than necessary. Silently making fun of her outfit, most likely. "Why don't you go and practice on the Elder. Who knows, maybe in a few years your Chikorita might be strong enough to take on a Gym Leader."

Avery bared her teeth, but Marill warned her against it. **"That's not a good idea, Avery," **he said, wrapping his tail around one of her back legs to get her to stay in place. **"This human looks like the type to kick Lillipups for fun."**

**"I can take him," **Avery insisted, but Marill rolled his eyes.

**"You're not a Carvanha. You're a first-stage Grass-type that's going to get in way over her head someday, and there's no guarantee that someone's going to be there to pull you out."**

**"I can handle something like Saliva here on my own." **But by the time she'd finished speaking, Silver and Cyndaquil had gone.

Ethan cleared his throat and spoke to the Elder. "Well, that happened. Are you up for another challenge so soon?"


	6. Birds of a Feather

**In which lessons are learned by many, and remembered by none.**

Ethan stood against the Elder, each of them holding a red and white ball. The hired referee declared a one-on-one match, and they released the Pokémon inside at the same time.

Minutes later, Ethan found himself being kicked out of the Sprout Tower, his knocked out Chikorita in his arms.

"And _you_ stay out!" shouted a security guard wearing an 'I heart Bellsprouts' T-shirt, as he tossed Kris and Lyra out, too. A woman in a kimono looked over and laughed quietly, but then disappeared almost instantly.

Ethan looked back at his traveling partners, obviously concerned. "Ok. I was stupid for pitting Avery against a Hoothoot, but what got you two thrown out?"

Lyra glared at the other girl, who was nervously tugging on one of her sleeves. "I got kicked out for putting one too many syllables in a haiku, and Little Miss Smarty-pants over here decided she was going to make a comment about their Bellsprout god."

"Hey, I only wanted to point out that there was no way an enormous Bellsprout could petrify and still move," Kris explained. "Petrification, I'm pretty sure, is turning into stone. Stones, except for Rock-type Pokémon, don't dance." She held her head high and folded her arms over her chest, a smug smile slipping across her face. "Science."

"But," Lyra continued, ignoring the explanation for the purposes of the story, "the people in the tower didn't take that well. _Especially _the Elder."

"It's not my fault," Kris wailed. "Pokémon aren't gods. Some of them do have a limited amount of power over some force of nature, but just because they're powerful doesn't mean they're gods."

"So how do you explain the pillar?" Ethan asked.

"I don't," Kris sighed. "I'll get my uncle to send a team of scientists in there, if you want."

Ethan shook his head. "Nah, we can forget about that. I have a Gym Battle, remember?"

"But Avery and Pidgey..."

"Don't worry. I can train them in the grass, remember?" Ethan stood up, carried Avery to the Pokémon Center, and after she recovered, he took her and Pidgey out into the grass. The girls had to agree, they could use some training too.

* * *

When Avery reached the Bayleef stage, she was more surprised than anyone. She spent fifteen whole minutes convinced she was a Sharpedo now, and only stopped trying to Crunch Skyrocket when he spit another mouthful of seeds at her.

Her foster herd really messed her up, didn't they?

As Ethan focused more on training Pidgey, Kris and Lyra seemed much more interested in the Pokémon in the waters of Violet City. They couldn't catch them, not having Surf or fishing rods, but they let Chomper and Marill out to take a swim with them until Ethan announced he was ready to take on the Gym.

The Violet City Gym, of course, was home to Flying-type Pokémon. Pidgey fit right in, and he knew it, flying around Ethan's head in excitement and letting out loud cries of absolute joy. Ethan had to grab him by the legs to get him to settle down, and of course that was the moment they encountered a young man with blue hair. The three young trainers started to say hello, but the young man seemed to only notice Ethan's grip on his Pidgey, and he was not happy about it at all.

"You dare treat Flying-type Pokémon in such a way?"

Ethan immediately let go of Pidgey, who let out one more screeching cry and dive-bombed the blue-haired guy, as if to say that he didn't really mind whatever his trainer did as long as it didn't physically hurt him. But the guy didn't seem to care that the bird had taken to trying to pull hair right out of his head. He just kept glaring at Ethan, to a point that even Avery, safe in her ball, began to feel freaked out.

"Sorry about Pidgey," Ethan said, quickly returning his bird to the safety of his portable carrier. "I think he just got excited about my upcoming Gym battle."

The young man seemed surprised. "You're challengers? You're not students from the Trainer's School?"

Kris snorted. Lyra rolled her eyes. But it was Ethan who used his words to explain: "No, we're not. Can I just have a battle with the Gym Leader, please?"

"Of course." The young man led them to the battle platform, taking the place across from the challenger's spot. Ethan was confused at first, but then all confusion was cleared up: "You come in search of the Zephyr Badge. Then I, Falkner, welcome you to my Gym!"

* * *

"I can't believe it!" Lyra squeaked, bouncing up and down in the seats reserved for the audience. "I'm actually watching a real Gym battle!"

Kris looked up from petting Chomper to give her a pointed look. "You could have actually been in one, you know."

"With Marill and Skyrocket? No, thank you." She didn't ask why Kris wasn't interested in having Gym battles, however, and the two watched in quiet anticipation as the Pidgey-vs.-Pidgey match continued. "Do you think Avery will be good enough to win, if Pidgey doesn't?"

"Maybe," Kris shrugged. "Type advantage is no match for experience. And she knows Poisonpowder, so there's a strategy option."

"All right," Lyra agreed, and went into silence as she watched her friend battle.

"Pidgey, use Tackle!" Ethan called, and his bird let out a loud cry as it complied.

"You Tackle, too, Pidgey!" Falkner ordered, and his own Pidgey swept down onto Ethan's.

The birds collided in midair, over and over again, until Falkner's Pidgey finally fainted, landing on the ground in front of its trainer with a dull thud. The Gym Leader expressed his concern, but called it back and selected a Pidgeotto to be his next Pokémon. The bigger bird quickly took out Pidgey, but Ethan did have a Bayleef as backup.

Falkner seemed to be amused by this. "A Grass-type? You chose a Grass-type for your journey?"

Ethan huffed. "Avery's more than a Grass-type," he insisted. "She's a little Sharpedo in a Bayleef's body! Avery, use Poisonpowder!"

Even as the move took effect, Falkner refused to let it stop him. "Pidgeotto, use Mud Slap!"

"Tackle, Avery!"

And so on, until Pidgeotto was barely standing. Ethan cheered. It was poisoned, and even though Avery was weak, she had Synthesis to help her recover. He thought that all was well, until...

"Pidgeotto, use Roost!"

And so the battle began again.

* * *

"You can win, Avery!" Ethan called once again, hoping that it would be enough. "Use Synthesis!"

"You heal, too! Pidgeotto, Roost!" Falkner ordered, and both Pokémon instantly recovered from whatever damage had been done the past two turns.

Kris buried her face into her bag, but it wasn't quite enough to muffle her scream of frustration. Using healing moves was all right, under the proper circumstances, but the battle had been going on for two hours. Two _whole_ hours. And, even with the poison affecting Pidgeotto after every turn, it wasn't going to end any time soon unless one of them managed to pull a one-hit knockout move.

Lyra had fallen asleep on the bench, and was unaware that Skyrocket had let himself out of his ball and was digging through her bag for a treat. Kris herself was pretty hungry, and as she was thinking of that, she failed to notice when Skyrocket got his paws on a juicy red apple. And he had eaten his way right to the core, including the seeds.

This was where the group learned a very important lesson: Do not let the Sentret eat seeds. He will spontaneously learn Bullet Seed, and he will use this attack on anyone who had recently crossed him. In this case, it was Falkner.

The Gym Leader was battered and confused when Skyrocket's attacks ceased, and he waved a little white flag. "All right. Ethan gets the Zephyr Badge."

And that was the first of many unusual victories for Ethan of New Bark Town.


	7. Merry Misadventures

**We honestly didn't know what to do with this one. I hope we made it funny enough.**

When the trio left the Gym, Ethan's phone started to ring almost immediately. The girls both stopped to watch when they heard it was Professor Elm calling, but Ethan didn't seem to understand what the man was saying.

"What was that, Professor? Something about the Pokémon egg you made me bring you?"

"Exactly!" Elm said, apparently pleased. "I spent quite a bit of time thinking it over, and I've decided that I want you to have it. I figured that you and Avery would be much more trustworthy than Kris and Chomper."

Ethan smirked and slid his eyes over to Kris. "So you think I'm better than your own niece, huh?"

"What?" Kris gasped, going pale. Clearly, she had idolized the professor since childhood, and hearing that she was inferior to Ethan of all people was about the equivalent of sticking a red-hot needle into her eye. She tried to snatch the phone away from its owner, but Ethan refused to budge. Instead, she decided to make do with speaking and counting on the boy to pass on the proper message from the professor back to her. "Uncle, this...no offense, but Ethan's an idiot! I can handle being thought of less than your most important Pokedex carriers, but _Ethan?_ And besides, I thought I was supposed to be your research assistant!"

Ethan could almost see the professor's eye twitch. "Tell Kris that it's nothing like that, please. All three of you were meant to help my research, just in different ways."

"He says that he wants you to shut up and that you'll get your chance later," Ethan edited. "And that Lyra's just as important."

That seemed to calm her down some, even though Elm was protesting that that was not the message he had intended to send. Lyra just stood and watched all of this, Marill safe in her arms.

Eventually, though, Ethan stopped fooling around long enough to listen to Professor Elm's message, and led the girls to the Pokémon Center, where they found one of the professor's lab assistants holding the egg that Mr. Pokémon had given to Ethan. Avery recognized it, and her eyes narrowed at the big white lump, but at least Marill seemed enthusiastic about it.

"What's going to hatch?" Lyra asked, reaching out and poking the egg. It didn't so much as move in response to her touch.

"For that, we have no idea," the assistant admitted. "That's why we decided to ask the boy who brought it to us. He started it, so he should finish it."

Ethan looked back at Avery, who was clearly still thinking about how she and her trainer would never have met Weird Apricorn Man if it hadn't been for this stupid egg. He could tell by the way she shook a little and attempted to look threatening, even though she should have known that the egg couldn't see her. He patted her on the head, calming her into stopping her shaking but not quite enough to let her guard down. "It's all right," he promised. "It's not going to hurt you."

Avery's eyes narrowed. Her trainer and his friends could believe what they wanted, but she definitely wasn't going to trust it any time soon.

* * *

Soon enough, however, Ethan was leading the others out of Violet City and down the path to Union Cave, a Marill and Bayleef following behind them. Chomper remained the only starter in the ball, though Pidgey and Skyrocket stayed inside, too. Kris had wanted to go and explore the Ruins of Alph, and had started to wander off without her friends, but Chomper had managed to release himself and drag her as far away as he could. Ethan was actually pretty grateful, since he found the place to be more than a little creepy.

Ethan got into plenty of battles, of course. Lyra and Kris took on one or two trainers each but otherwise restricted themselves to wild Pokémon, and Kris caught the second member of her team: a bright, happy Hoppip that, upon being released, was revealed to be absolutely useless in battle.

"I'm sure it'll get better," Lyra offered. "It just needs a lot of love and care."

Kris made an indifferent sound, watching as her pink plant creature floated along before returning it to its ball. She hadn't captured it for battle, to be honest. She'd captured it for research.

Ethan, on the other hand, wasn't paying any attention. He was too busy raising his own Pokémon on the practice battles in the grass, and then with a few other people.

All in all, a very boring route. The only interesting thing that happened, other than Hoppip's capture, was that a man approached them, offering to sell them a Slowpoke tail.

"Why?" Lyra asked, wrinkling her nose. "What have the Slowpoke ever done to you?"

"Hey, I'm not the one who cut the tails off," the man objected. "I'm just sellin' 'em. So, will you guys take it or not?"

"Um..." Lyra looked back at the others, both of whom were staring openly. "No, thanks. I'll pass."

"It's tasty," the man prodded, but Lyra shook her head.

"Not gonna happen," she insisted. "Come on, guys. Union Cave awaits."

"Pokémon Center first," Ethan insisted. "Then we find out where this loser gets his supply of Slowpoke tails."

* * *

The trip through Union Cave was actually pretty easy, compared to other caves they all knew were coming up on their journey. "Victory Road" inspired terror for more than just the difficulties the challengers faced on their way to the place.

Lyra had picked up a map of Union Cave from the Pokémon Center while the group's Pokémon were being healed, and it was a very good place to find opponents for their primarily Grass and Water-type teams. They left a trail of defeated opponents behind them, even taking a different set of stairs despite the map clearly stating they had no reason to, and only ran into trouble when they came to a small lake in the lower chamber.

"Avery, no!" Ethan shouted, trying and failing to get a good grip on his Bayleef. "I'm not even sure you can swim in this body! Get back here!"

Avery paid no attention, jumping into the water with a loud splash.

The good news was, Avery could swim just as well in her second stage as she must have in her first. But she wasn't exactly welcome in the waters of Union Cave, as the next Pokémon they encountered made clear.

First, an enormous gray lump rose to the surface, followed by a big blue head. Ethan and Lyra both stared openly, but Kris managed to get a picture of the creature as it opened its mouth and fired an Ice Beam at the poor Grass-type.

Ethan called Avery back to her ball, and followed his friends up to the main path.

"What was that thing?" he whined, eyes wide in terror.

"A Lapras," Lyra explained, frowning a bit. "They're really rare..." she looked back down at the hole the ladder had been stuck through. "Did we just find the wild breeding ground?"

"Who cares!" Ethan snapped. "It hurt my Avery!"

"In its defense, Avery was in its lake," Kris pointed out. "It's not FAIR, but it's easily explained."

Ethan took one more look, then turned away. "Well, Lyra? What does your map say?"

And they forgot all about the Lapras as they continued on their way.

* * *

It was raining by the time they made it out of the cave. Marill was pleased with this, while the humans and Pidgey were clearly unimpressed. Even more so when Ethan started singing: "Rain, rain, go away. Find some other kids to play..."

"Please don't," Kris said, dramatically placing a hand to her forehead as if it were already giving her a migraine. "I'm out of aspirin."

Ethan's only response was to force his average singing voice to go deliberately out of tune. Marill whined and tried rolling up his ears to force the sound out of them.

"Don't be a baby," Lyra scolded him, pretending not to notice Kris shaking her head sadly. "His singing isn't _that_ bad."

Marill just gave her an irritated look, clearly communicating what she wouldn't have understood if he'd said it. Lyra just made a face back at him, making the blue mouse laugh if not stop whining. Marill playfully pushed her, and she had to admit it.

"Ok, you're right," she sighed. "We should never, ever do karaoke night, and if we do, we should never, ever invite Ethan. Are you happy?"

Marill smiled, but it quickly turned to a grimace when Ethan, in trying to sing "Part Of Your World" from The Little Mermaid, attempted to hit a high note. The boy broke down into a coughing fit, and smiled nervously.

"All right. No more singing."

"Thank you," the girls said together, and they continued on their way to the next town.

* * *

When the rain stopped, the three children found themselves standing in front of a well, guarded my a mysterious man dressed in black with a large red R on his shirt. He didn't seem happy to see them there, and tried to chase them off with a loud war cry, waving his arms frantically. When that did little but unleash Avery's rage, he let them pass into Azalea Town with little more than a half-formed warning about the well being an unsafe place for children.

"We weren't planning on having anything to do with the well," Ethan explained, more than a little concerned with the man's mental health. "I just wanted to get a new badge, and the map says Azalea Town has a Gym."

The man cringed. "Yeah, yeah, I just got worried for a second. Kids like you are dumb, you know."

"We can be," Kris admitted, giving Ethan a sly look. He stuck out his tongue like a two-year-old, and she just laughed and brushed it aside. "But that's not important. Come on, guys, we've got sights to see."

"Stay away from the well!" the man warned one last time, but none of the children paid him any attention. Marill alone had suspicions, and those were wiped from his mind by his trainer promising lunch.

They'd honestly believed Azalea Town was just another stop along the way to victory. They would quickly be proven to be very, very wrong.


	8. The Slowpoke Crisis

**And now, the moment you've all been waiting for! Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for...Team Rocket!**

The Azalea Town adventures started when the girls went to the Pokemart, leaving Ethan behind, and somebody noticed his Apricorn Box.

He wasn't entirely sure how it had left his bag, exactly. Perhaps it had fallen out, or maybe Avery had decided to dispose of it once and for all and missed whatever she was aiming at. But the woman that had picked it up simply handed it back to the boy, a smile crossing her face.

"You haven't been collecting Apricorns that long, have you?" she asked, and Ethan shared a brief look with his Bayleef. The woman noted that the look contained a silent command of some kind, and the Bayleef eventually looked down at the ground instead of the trainer.

Ethan turned back to the woman, ready to have the conversation at last. "No," he admitted, accepting the Apricorn Box and dumping it into his bag without another thought. "I can't say I have. I don't really know what they're for, to be honest."

"Oh, they're only useful here in Azalea Town," the woman said cheerfully, not offended by the fact that he didn't know a thing. "We have a man here that can turn Apricorns into Pokeballs! You can't find those kinds of balls anywhere else, Kurt's very particular about that. He doesn't even let anybody but his granddaughter know how he does it!"

Ethan looked back at the box, and the very small number of berry-like things inside. So the worthless things weren't completely worthless at all? He could actually use them to catch Pokémon?

Avery didn't seem convinced. But Ethan just waved her in the general direction of the Pokemart.

"Go get Kris and Lyra," he told her. "I have Pidgey to keep me company."

Avery looked downright pitiful, and the woman quickly shook her head.

"No, you don't need to send your Bayleef away," she insisted. "I was just saying that Kurt could help."

Avery huffed again. Ethan returned her to her ball as a silent way of telling her to keep her sarcasm to herself, and faced the woman once again. "Thanks for the advice. Where can I find this Kurt?"

* * *

"So, Weird Apricorn Man had a point?" Kris gasped, as the three of them stood in front of Kurt's house. "He wasn't just some deranged freak that liked watching children panic?"

Ethan had explained things to her and Lyra, while leading them to the house in an attempt to see if this Kurt was as great as he seemed to be. At the moment, he was halfway to the door, and looked over his shoulder to show them his agreeing smile."I know, right?" he laughed. "Who would've thought?"

The door swung open at that moment, before Ethan had even knocked, revealing a cranky-looking old man. He took one look at the trio standing on his doorstep, and then declared, "I'm sorry, but the business is closed until further notice."

"Why?" Lyra asked, more than a little disappointed. It wasn't every day that she got the chance to see how Pokeballs were made, after all.

Kurt looked past her, at a small cluster of people dressed completely in black. "Those people," he explained, and they all turned to see what he was talking about. "Ever since they showed up, all the town's Slowpoke have disappeared. They've been blocking off the well, so I think that's where they're keeping them all."

"Even mine!" the little girl beside him huffed. "So we're gonna get all the Slowpoke back!"

"No," Kurt instructed. "I am going to get all the Slowpoke back. You stay here and guard the equipment."

The girl pouted, but agreed, retreating to the back of the room. Kurt made sure she was staying put, and then brushed past Ethan and friends on his way out.

All was silent for about ten minutes. And then Lyra broke it: "I guess we should help him out."

"Maybe he can handle it," Ethan suggested, but if he was being honest with himself, he really knew better. Seeing the looks his companions gave him, he held up his hands in surrender. "All right. You two chase that group out of town, I'll check that well."

And the three split up right there, leaving a confused little girl without her grandfather or her Slowpoke to keep her company. Which meant, of course, that she was free to raid her grandpa's fridge.

* * *

As Kris and Lyra decided to split the town in half, Kris taking the Gym side and Lyra the side with the Pokémon Center, Ethan took Pidgey and Avery back to the well. The man that had guarded it was gone, and Kurt was nowhere to be seen, but there were strange noises coming from the center of the pit.

Like any good boy would do, Ethan disobeyed previous orders and climbed down the ladder into the well, where the first thing he found was Kurt, struggling to get back to his feet.

"What happened?" Ethan asked uncertainly, as Avery helped the old man stand up by biting the back of his shirt and pulling him into an upright position. "Did you break your back?"

"Not broken," Kurt insisted. "Just hurt. It'll take a lot more than a tumble to get rid of me..."

But the fact that he could barely stand without the Bayleef's help proved that the people in black had gotten rid of him, at least temporarily. So, being the sane man he was, Kurt placed his mission in the hands of an eleven-year-old kid.

"But how am I supposed to stop this?" Ethan demanded. "I only have two Pokémon, and an egg that isn't likely to hatch soon. Who knows how many people will come after me..."

"Most of the squad is back in town, collecting Slowpoke for their Slowpoke Tail Scheme." Kurt winced as Avery accidentally nudged the sore spot on his back. Ethan didn't notice. Selling Slowpoke Tails...well, at least he knew where that one man got his supply.

"All right, I'll do it. Come on, Avery," he called, and she immediately propped Kurt against the wall and trotted after her trainer, into the depths of the well.

* * *

The people in black introduced themselves as Team Rocket, the self-proclaimed greatest crime organization in the world. This so-called "great crime organization" was surprised and very offended that Ethan had never heard of them, and immediately decided to chase him out when bribing him with riches and power would have worked just as well.

After a few battles, Ethan had managed to make his way to the back, where a youngish man was waiting, doing a very impressive but very cliché evil laugh while surrounded by a bunch of Slowpoke. Ethan noticed that most of their tails were in various stages of being grown, giving truth to the rumor that the tails grow back.

But his mission was not to observe, it was to assist. A plan formed in the boy's mind almost immediately, and Ethan looked back at his very first Pokémon partner with an almost wicked grin. "You know what to do," he said, and she seemed to understand immediately. She'd been waiting for this for a long time.

Ethan had hoped that, in the confusion of the man being attacked by a Bayleef, he could sneak over and carry the Slowpoke to safety one by one. But, of course, fate had other plans in store for our young hero.

No sooner had Avery fastened her teeth on the man's shoulder, sharper than the affectionate nibbles she'd learned to gave her trainer but still not enough to break skin, the man managed to throw her off of him.

"What idiot let this Bayleef out?" he demanded, looking around at the others in the well. Ethan hid behind a large rock to avoid being found. "Who did the boss let HAVE a Bayleef, anyway?"

Avery said something that was best left untranslated. The way in which she said it and the taunting expression made that clear to everybody, and the man leapt to his feet.

"That does it," he growled, taking a step closer to her. "I'm gonna rip that leaf right off your head, you little freak, and then I'm gonna watch you bleed!"

"Get away from her!" Ethan ordered, and the man turned to face him. He caught the surprised look, and quickly realized that he probably should have stuck to his original mission.

"Is this thing YOURS?" he asked, and Ethan gulped. "What are you even doing down here? I thought the intruder fell down and broke his back."

"Not broken," Ethan said quietly, wishing he could make his voice stronger. "Just hurt."

The man looked at a small female grunt, who seemed rather intimidated by him. "You! Remove the boy from my presence and make his Bayleef suffer."

"I...I would," she muttered, "but I'm new to Team Rocket and the boss doesn't trust me with Pokémon yet."

She laughed as if it were a joke, but the fact that no one else found it funny instantly shut her up.

"Fine, then," the man said, giving Ethan the dirtiest look the boy had ever seen. "I suppose I have to be the one to get rid of you. Not that I mind," he added with a grin. "I've always wanted to see what happens when a person loses all hope."


	9. Quit Bugging Me!

**In which Bugsy is kind of creepy.**

Despite the Team Rocket man's words, it was actually pretty easy for Ethan to defeat him. He used a Zubat, which fell almost immediately to Pidgey, and a Koffing that Avery managed to take out despite the disadvantage type-wise. The man howled with rage, throwing a tantrum like a big baby, and Ethan backed up quickly.

"This isn't fair!" the main wailed. "No one defeats Team Rocket this easily! Not even that other boy with the stupid color name! It's not FAIR!"

The grunt who had refused to battle Ethan, the one without a Pokémon of her own, put a comforting hand on her boss's shoulder. "It's not the end of the world, Mr. Proton," she pointed out. "Why don't we just give up on the Slowpoke expedition? I'm sure our next project won't be such a spectacular failure..."

"Nonsense!" Proton declared. "I can still beat him! Bring me...the Bazooka!"

The grunt cringed. Ethan gulped. And a male grunt stepped forward nervously, his hands hidden behind his back.

"Are you sure you want the Bazooka, Mr. Proton?" he asked nervously, and Proton rolled his eyes.

"If I didn't want it, why would I ask for it?" The question made the grunt hang his head in shame. "Now, hurry, before he gets away!"

Ethan turned to run. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know what the Bazooka was. But he found out three seconds later:

"I asked for the Bazooka! This is a Rattata!"

"Yes, but it's a Rattata we named 'the Bazooka.' Pretty cool, right?"

"If it's any consolation, Mr. Proton, I told him not to."

Ethan shook his head as he heard Proton give up and accept that he and his troop would have to leave Slowpoke Well alone. He hid behind a different boulder as they passed, calling both Pidgey and Avery to their balls to keep them from being seen. And then, as he stepped out, he nearly tripped over a large pink blob in the middle of the path.

"Slow..." it said in a manner that Ethan thought was happy. He couldn't really tell. He COULD, however, tell that its tail was mostly regrown, and would probably finish the job within a few days.

"Um...you're welcome?" Ethan managed, getting to his feet. "Get off the path, all right? People are going to trip over you again, and you might even lose your tail."

The Slowpoke blinked but otherwise didn't move. Ethan rolled his eyes. But then he thought: what if he caught the Slowpoke? Professor Oak gave him a Pokedex to help Elm's research, right? And it would help him out in Gym battles, not to mention put him above Kris and Lyra in catch count.

No sooner had he made up his mind than he dug a ball out of his bag and dropped it from about waist height. The ball conked the lump on the head, sucked it in, and clicked closed. Two little wiggles, and the Slowpoke was his.

Ethan tensed up at the sound of footsteps, but it turned out to only be Kurt, still a little shaky but much more mobile. He checked all the Slowpoke but Ethan's, seeming to recognize all of them and find none missing(which was a good thing, since Ethan didn't want to be an unintentional thief) before declaring that the boy should get off his butt and help an old man get all these lazy blobs out of the well.

* * *

"I just can't believe you actually CAUGHT one," Kris was saying an hour later, having just reunited with the others and listened to the story. She was fidgeting with her pink Pokegear phone as she spoke, trying not to think of Team Rocket. "Slowpoke are annoying."

"You're just jealous," Ethan said smugly, gently patting the egg in his arms. He'd recently sworn to start carrying it in his arms wherever he went, something Lyra had already started teasing him for. "I have four Pokémon, or at least I will when this thing hatches. What's your catch count again? Two?" He smirked as she gritted her teeth.

Lyra interrupted before Kris could say anything. "Hey, Ethan, the Gym Leader here uses Bug-type Pokémon. Avery and Slowpoke are both weak to Bug-types. Do you have a plan other than 'send in Pidgey and see how far he can go?' Or did you forget to set up a Plan B again?"

"What's a plan?" Ethan asked, and, seeing his friends stare openly, laughed. "Calm down, Lyra," he said simply. "I was going to ask you two if I could borrow a Pokémon from each of you."

"Picking on me isn't going to get a yes," Kris reminded him.

Ethan thought it over. "What if I gave you permission to insult me to my face once with no retaliation?"

She thought about objecting, but decided against it. "Make it twice," she suggested, "and throw in a corn dog."

"The corn dog, I'll do," Ethan decided. "But once is my highest offer."

He held out his hand. Kris looked down at it, then reluctantly shook it. Lyra just smiled happily, pleased that everyone was getting along.

And Marill just hoped it would stay that way.

* * *

After trading Avery to Kris and Slowpoke to Lyra, and getting Chomper and Skyrocket in return, Ethan walked through the doors of the Azalea Town Gym, prepared to face anything.

Anything, that is, except for an enormous wooden Scyther built entirely out of craft sticks, which was waiting by the door like an old, broken exoskeleton. Ethan was not about to admit to the distinctively un-manly squeak that escaped his clenched teeth, and wondered for a moment if Avery would take the heat for it.

"I'm sorry if my project scared you," said a cool voice, and they turned around to see a young boy, probably somewhere around their age, carrying an enormous butterfly net over his shoulders. He was staring at them all with blank eyes, watching them. "I was planning to redecorate."

Ethan looked back up at the huge 'project.' "And this thing was going to be the centerpiece, was it?"

"One of many," the boy agreed, seeming to come to life a little more as he thought about his other projects. "I'm also planning on building a Heracross, and a Pinsir." Here Lyra shuddered, she hated Pinsir with a passion, but the boy was preoccupied with his thoughts to notice. "And I'm halfway done with a Beedrill that will hang from the ceiling," he added happily.

"And how will you keep them from catching on fire?" Kris challenged. "People who know the Gym specializes in Bug-types will bring Fire-type Pokémon, and there can be a lot of collateral damage..."

"I have my ways."

The girls shared a look, but said no more. Ethan saw his chance to take control of the conversation, and hopefully lead it away from the wooden bug project. "If you're the one in charge of redecoration around here, that means you're the Gym Leader, right?"

"Gym Leader Bugsy," the boy confirmed. "The walking Bug Pokémon encyclopedia."

"So, can I have a battle?"

Bugsy looked back at the giant wooden Scyther, as if asking for its permission. "Sure," he finally said, turning back to his new challenger. "The field is this way."

* * *

The two young boys faced each other on the field, the half-finished wooden Beedrill lying on the ground like a broken toy. Ethan tried to ignore it as he picked out a Pokémon to open with.

"I'll open with Metapod," Bugsy said, his eerie stare really starting to annoy and terrify his challenger.

But Ethan pretended he didn't care. "Then my first choice is Skyrocket!"

No sooner had the Sentret appeared on the field than the Metapod began trembling, as if it knew exactly how the thing preferred to battle. Ethan had to laugh. Metapod wasn't exactly known for being a difficult opponent, and Bugsy certainly didn't seem like he'd be a difficult Gym Leader.

But, within an hour, he'd lost both Skyrocket and Pidgey, and was standing alone with the Totodile of some girl he'd known for just a few days.

On the bright side, he'd managed to take down both Metapod and the Kakuna that Bugsy had sent out immediately afterward. It was only the real Scyther that stood between him and his second badge, and this one was the tough opponent.

Kris looked on from the stands, her Hoppip in her arms, Avery's head resting on the seat right beside her. Lyra had chosen to keep Slowpoke in his ball, but Marill was out in the open, sitting on her lap and staring at the field. Lyra's eyes, however, were completely diverted from the fight, and it did not escape Kris's notice.

"What are you doing?" Kris finally asked, looking almost pained as Lyra's pencil swirled across the sketchbook page.

"Drawing the battle," was the only reply given. "Scyther and Chomper both look amazing out there."

Kris focused on a small doodle of a dress that stood out among the Pokémon sketches. "And that?"

"I like playing dress-up," Lyra said simply, gesturing to her outfit. "That's inspired by a Pikachu. I'll ask my grandmother to help me make it sometime."

"You still play dress-up?" Kris asked, and when Lyra just nodded, she looked impressed. "That explains the Mario costume."

"Funny." But Lyra was no longer paying attention, and Kris, figuring she'd gotten the last laugh, looked back at the field as well, if only to see how her Totodile was doing.

Ethan struck a pose. "Now, Chomper, use Ice Fang!"

Chomper's expression suddenly looked very, very much like the one his trainer usually wore when dealing with Ethan's antics, and the boy quickly found himself backtracking. "Or Scratch. No, better yet, unleash your Rage!"

Bugsy was not about to lose easily. "Fury Cutter," he ordered calmly, and the Scyther swung at Chomper, connecting with the small blue body and increasing the power of both Rage and Fury Cutter.

"Keep Raging, Chomper!" Ethan commanded, and the Totodile jumped at Scyther again.

"You keep using Fury Cutter, too," Bugsy ordered, and Scyther nodded.

But eventually, the Fury Cutter attacks missed, and with one final, overpowered lunge, Chomper had taken it down and won Ethan the Hive Badge.

With the new badge in hand, the Slowpoke saved and Team Rocket gone, Ethan and the girls headed back to the Pokémon Center to get their Pokémon back to their original trainers. They planned to head right into Ilex Forest after the healing and trades, but...

"Who let you three into this town?"

Silver had other ideas.


	10. The Rocket Boss

**Tradition is important. Villain songs are even more so. New readers, I'm sorry. Old readers, you're welcome.**

**This one is to "Gaston" from Beauty and the Beast. Watch any episode of the anime with Team Rocket and tell me it was a bad decision. On another note, the other writer has said that this is the last time she'll ever work on a crowd song. I can't say I blame her, this thing was a pain.**

Silver obviously wasn't happy to see them, but the feeling was mutual. Ethan made a face at the other boy before declaring, "We came for my second badge, and ended up stopping Team Rocket's Slowpoke Tail plot. What did you do?"

Silver glanced back at Lyra, who just gave him a friendly wave, and didn't bother to look at Kris at all. "You guys beat Team Rocket?" he asked, and Ethan nodded. "Wimps like you? Don't be stupid."

"It's true!" Lyra insisted. "Kris chased off the guy in charge of blocking the entrance to the Gym, and Ethan chased them all out of the Slowpoke Well."

Silver glared at her. "And what did you do to help, Mario?"

"Lyra," she corrected him, "and I took care of the one hanging out around the Pokémon Center."

"And you guys expect me to believe this?" When Ethan bluntly answered that, yes, he did kind of expect instant belief, Silver reached for a Pokeball. "Then I challenge any of you to a battle. If you can beat me, I might believe you stood a chance against Team Rocket."

"I'll take that challenge," Ethan declared. "Send out your first Pokémon."

Silver threw out the ball. "Let's start this with Gastly!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in a Team Rocket base in some unknown town, Proton had reported his failure to his boss, and was currently awaiting punishment. But Giovanni seemed much more calm than what Proton had expected. That wasn't always a good sign, but at least he was less likely to die.

"I should've known stupid kids would ruin it," the man said, fingers tapping irritably on the bar in front of him. "It was just the same with those boys from three years ago...stupid color names," he added bitterly, still reeling from the previous loss.

"But at least we made a bit of money off it," the younger man pointed out.

"I don't care about the money we make from selling Slowpoke tails," Giovanni hissed. "I wanted to get the attention of my son. Team Rocket is the family business, and the boy can't hide from his destiny forever."

"But sir," Petrel complained, "don't you remember when your son was four years old and you brought him to work? He called Team Rocket 'stupid,' threatened to burn our base to the ground, and ordered a pizza on your business phone."

"I know," said Giovanni, "and I have never been more proud of him."

"Well, I'm sure he'll come back someday," Arianna tried to reassure him. "He's not likely to resist a position of power."

"You don't know the boy very well at all, do you?"

Proton figured it was best to act now, before his boss could get too depressed. Clearing his throat, he selected a tune vaguely familiar to everybody in the room, and began to sing.

_"Gosh, it disturbs me to see you here, boss  
Looking so down in the dumps.  
Everyone would like to be you here, boss  
This Ethan kid just had some luck."_

Drawing the attention of the entire Team Rocket base, Proton continued on with his song, becoming very pleased with how well it was going.

_"There's no villain alive that tries twice like you do  
At least not until Black and White  
But at Team Rocket we simply idolize you  
And it's not very hard to see why…"_

"Please no," Giovanni tried to protest, but his order fell on deaf ears. The other members of Team Rocket had decided that this would end up as the story's main villain song, and had begun their own parts of it before the boss's order had left his lips.

It was Petrel that had the next line: _"No one plots like our boss  
Calls the shots like our boss  
No one hides out and never gets caught like our boss!"_

Arianna took her turn, and that was when Giovanni decided to just let it all happen.

_"Because Hoenn may have Max and Archie  
They're bad, yes, but you're king of crime!"_

A grunt took the next line, and Giovanni recognized him as the one who had presented him with some Rattata called the Bazooka.

_"And you've got lots of grunts at your calling  
And there's no doubt, for you we're willing to do time…"_

The rest of the grunts, male and female alike, took their leader's indifference for permission as they continued on:

_"No one robs like our boss  
Bribes the cops like our boss  
Plans to steal all a trainer's Pokémon like our boss!"_

Giovanni sighed. If you can't murder them, join them. _"I hear Ghetsis is calling it liberating…"_

_"But he's not as great as our boss!_

_Give five hoorahs! Give twelve hip-hips!"_

Arianna was getting into it, too. _"And he doesn't need to read your stupid scripts!"_

Giovanni would have to fire her later. At the moment, he just watched as the chaos spread through his base, hoping that the police wouldn't burst in and see this nonsense. Or maybe he should let them come, just to claim an insanity plea.

_"No one fights like our boss  
Knows his rights like our boss!"_

Petrel couldn't help but laugh as his next addition came to him. _"Or beat up all Team Plasma's knights like our boss!"_

A young female grunt, a new recruit by the look of her, decided to test her own abilities.

_"For there's something about Giovanni…"_

But you know, there actually was something in singing that made everything seem better. Whatever it was, he found himself singing along easily. _"As you see, I have grunts left to spare!"_

_"You can ask trainers Kate, Pat and Johnny…"_ Archer suggested, making his first comment of the song.

_"That I don't take anything unless it's rare!"_ Giovanni finished, wondering to himself how he'd stooped so low. Oh, well. It couldn't be helped.

_"No one hits like our boss  
Matches wits like our boss!"_

_"And in secret, nobody knits like our boss!"_ Archer added, and then made a sound that could only be described as a 'yelp' when said boss smacked him upside the head.

_"Do you want to wake up in a cemetery?"_ Giovanni challenged, somehow not breaking the rhythm of the song. Archer gulped, but the grunt army didn't care.

_"Beware of our boss!"_

Everyone was looking at Giovanni now, obviously expecting him to sing more than one line at a time. With a quick look toward the door, making sure no one else would witness, he decided to give in.

_"Just three years ago, a boy stood up to me  
And he gave me my very first loss.  
But I have a new plan to make sane people flee  
And it's one that he won't come across!"_

_"No one recruits like our boss  
Conquers routes like our boss  
And no one wears bright orange suits like our boss!"_

Proton grinned, happy that his superior was starting to lighten up.

_"As a Gym Leader, he was intimidating…"_

_"He'll rule again  
Just a matter of when  
And he'll conquer once more  
Whether by peace or war  
Who's a super success? Don't you know? Can't you guess?  
And even though his son is gone  
The boy will come around once his dad owns this town…"_

_"Because he is the best…at stuff…like…"_ Petrel thought hard, before coming up with, _"stealing…and crime…"_ Thinking even harder, so hard that the other executives immediately assumed that his brain had blown a fuse, he finally threw his hands up in surrender. "Forget it."

_"Our boss!"_ the grunts finished in one loud cheer.

It was probably a good thing that the beloved boss's son was nowhere to be seen, because if he had been, he would be backing away slowly before turning and running as fast as his legs would carry him.

* * *

"That was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen."

No one bothered to disagree with Kris. If they did, they would be lying.

After Avery had beaten Gastly, Pidgey had defeated Silver's Zubat by pure luck. The final challenge had been Slowpoke against Quilava, a battle which hadn't really been a battle at all. Instead, Ethan had called for a Water Gun as the opening move, but Slowpoke had just sat there like the big useless lump of Pokémon it was, and Quilava had been too busy batting at its head with his paw to actually listen to Silver's commands.

And then, just when Ethan had started to think that Silver deserved this disobedience, having not actually acquired Quilava in ways that one would describe as 'legal,' Slowpoke seemed to process his trainer's command and launched the attack, nailing the poor Fire-type in the face. Quilava puffed out a half-hearted cloud of smoke, and then it fell over, one leg twitching.

So, yes, it was pretty strange to witness, but Ethan wasn't about to let a victory pass him by, no matter how unusual. 'Unusual' happened to be what won him his first badge, after all.

Silver recalled the Pokémon that had once peacefully sat in Professor Elm's lab, probably the very same Cyndaquil that had nearly scorched Ethan before the professor took him to the back room. "That was pathetic," he told it through the case. "You really need to start training harder."

"Hey, your Quilava just let its guard down," Ethan pointed out. "That's nothing to get mad at it for."

"Slowpoke is a useless Pokémon," Kris agreed. "I don't blame Quilava at all."

But Lyra seemed more interested in the boy than his Pokémon, and he caught her curious stare. "What?"

"I was just wondering, that's all," she said, as if she'd already asked her question and gotten yelled at. When the other three all stared at her, she held up her hands. "It just seemed like he was a little _too_ interested in beating Team Rocket, don't you agree?"

That brought her companions to silence. That much was true. But before either of them could ask, Lyra had declared that they should probably get moving if they wanted to make it out of Ilex Forest by nightfall. After Ethan and Kris had started on their way, she gave the redhead a conspiratorial smile.

"Don't worry," she said, as if she'd seen into his head through the battle. "You're not the type to sit through personal questions. Team Rocket's your business, so we'll try not to get involved again. No promises, though," she added hastily, almost as if she knew that Team Rocket was inescapable.

And then, with a wave, she'd followed her friends. Silver stared after her, concerned for a moment that she knew too much of what she wasn't supposed to...and then he dismissed it.

"Dumb girl," he grumbled to himself, kicking a small rock. "She's going to end up dead one of these days."

But she didn't ask personal questions. At least she had that going for her.

* * *

Exploring Ilex Forest with Ethan was not something that Kris had wanted to do without Lyra, and within five minutes, he'd proven exactly why.

The boy had ticked off a bunch of Caterpie, and had wound up wrapped in their String Shot attacks, and that meant that now he was a big lump at Kris's feet, only his head unwrapped. He glared up at her, very displeased with her lack of concern.

"Aren't you going to help me?" he demanded, and she shook her head.

"You got yourself into this," she pointed out. "You can get yourself out of it."

"But what about the forest gods?" Ethan whined. "They could be zooming in on us as we speak!"

"Forest gods?"

"You don't want to know," Lyra sighed, alerting them both to her presence. "Other than that it's probably why he wanted a Dunsparce in the first place." She looked down at Ethan, and, after he explained his situation, turned back to Kris. "Should we help him?"

"And ruin the fun?"

"Don't leave me here!" Ethan wailed. "What about the forest gods?"

There was a crack, as though someone stepped on a twig. Then two small Farfetch'd came from out of nowhere, cut Ethan free, and tried to disappear again. Fortunately for their trainers, Kris and Lyra were fast, and each of them secured a small, squirming bird in their arms, carefully avoiding the pecking beaks. The trainer showed up a second later, thanking them and taking back the Pokémon, and left the trio to continue their journey through the forest.

It would have gone without a hitch, if it weren't for a pretty young lady dressed in a kimono. Ethan remembered seeing another one that looked almost exactly like her in Violet City, laughing at the three as they got thrown out of the tower, but this girl looked lost.

Apparently, that was exactly the case.

"Where _is_ that exit?" she said to herself, nervously tugging on her sleeve. "I could have sworn it was right up here. I suppose, if it comes down to it, I could always sleep out here tonight...but the forest gods..."

Ethan nudged Kris. "See? She believes in forest gods."

"I can see that. She must be an escaped mental patient, too." As Ethan opened his mouth, Kris just smiled and held out a finger. "You gave me one shot, remember?"

"You didn't have to bring _her_ into it!" Ethan whined, attracting the pretty young lady's attention.

"Hello," she said, apparently oblivious to Kris and Ethan's little discussion. "Are you lost, too?"

"Not really," Lyra admitted. "Turn left, and the exit's just out of sight."

The Kimono Girl looked, squinted, and then laughed nervously. "Oh, look at that! You're right!"

"No kidding," Kris muttered under her breath, but Ethan shushed her with a jab in the ribs.

The Kimono Girl still didn't seem to notice the conversation, though she clearly saw them. Instead, she thanked Lyra and started off, catching Ethan's eye in the process. The mysterious smile she gave him filled him with fear, but that wasn't anything new. He'd been afraid of things like this since Professor Oak had given him his Pokedex, knowing very well what happened to the boys he'd chosen three years earlier.

Lyra didn't catch any of it. "Come on, guys!" she cheered, pointing toward the exit herself. "My grandparents are right up ahead. Maybe they'll let us sleep on the Day Care floor!"


End file.
